Physicians and other medical professionals should screen children age 6 and older for obesity and refer obese kids to comprehensive weight-management programs, an expert panel says in today’s Pediatrics online.
The statement comes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which makes medical-care recommendations based on the latest research.
After reviewing more than a dozen studies, the panel concluded that obese children who participated in moderate to high-intensity weight-management programs (frequently with their parents) for 25 or more hours over a six-month period often had improvements in their weight. Many programs included help from dietitians, psychologists, exercise trainers and physicians.
Currently there aren’t enough weight-management programs for parents to take their children, and it’s not a covered benefit by most insurance, family physician Ned Calonge, chairman of task force and chief medical officer of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “But now that there is evidence of effectiveness and this new recommendation — that may change.” Read more…
